Hard drive tray device

ABSTRACT

A hard drive tray device applied in a server is provided. The server includes a housing. The hard drive tray device includes a rail member and a tray. The rail member is disposed at the inner wall of the housing. The tray is slidably engaged with the rail member so as to slide between an expanded position and a closed position relative to the housing. The tray includes a base for carrying two storage devices. The base has a hollow portion. The storage devices are respectively located at two sides of the hollow portion. When the tray slides to the expanded position, one of the storage devices and at least a part of the hollow portion are located outside the housing.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional applicationSer. No. 15/056,427, entitled “HARD DRIVE TRAY DEVICE” and filed Feb.29, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional applicationSer. No. 13/871,971, entitled “HARD DRIVE TRAY DEVICE” and filed Apr.26, 2013, which claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number101212183, filed Jun. 25, 2012, all of which are herein incorporated byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to a tray device for hard drives, moreparticularly, to a tray device for carrying hot-swappable hard drives.

BACKGROUND

Hot-swappable devices in a server usually include a hot-swappable powersource, a hot-swappable hard drive, a hot-swappable battery, and ahot-swappable fan. The hot-swappable devices are usually installed on apanel or a backplate of the server and can be replaced directly from thepanel or backplate. A hot-swappable device usually has a handle to beheld and a latch for positioning after the hot-swappable device has beeninstalled. Hot swapping refers to the ability to directly connect orremove components from a computer system without shutting down thecomputer system. Hot-swap capability is especially important withserver-class systems, allowing the system to be expanded for betterperformance without interrupting services.

With present configurations, after a hard drive is fastened to aconventional hot-swappable hard drive tray, the hot-swappable hard drivetray can be installed in a host by sliding along slide rails of thehost. Typically, the hard drive is fastened to the hard drive tray usingscrews.

However, the conventional hard drive tray allows for installation ofonly one hard drive thereon. When a user pulls out the hard drive tray,the signals and power to the hard drive on the hard drive tray will beinterrupted, resulting in a long interruption for the system. The systemsubsequently needs some time to re-establish data connections. Inaddition, a server that supports hot-swappable hard drive trays usuallyhas a standard size, and so in an application that requires a lot ofhard drives, use of conventional hard drive trays in the server allowsfor accommodation of only a relatively small number of hard drives.Therefore, if the number of hard drives is increased, the number ofservers also needs to be increased. This results not only in increasedcosts, but a large volume for the whole computer system.

SUMMARY

The disclosure provides a hard drive tray device in which at least twocarrying portions are disposed on a base of a tray, and the carryingportions can respectively carry two storage devices, thereby allowingthe number of storage devices accommodated in a single server to beincreased. The hard drive tray device of the disclosure includes a railmember that is disposed at the inner wall of the housing of the serverand is slidably engaged with the tray, so when the rear storage devices(i.e., the storage devices that are deeper in the housing) need to berepaired, a user can assemble/disassemble the rear storage devices inthe same way that the front storage devices (i.e., the storage devicesthat are closer to the periphery of the housing) areassembled/disassembled, namely, by simply pulling the tray out of thehousing. In addition, a hollow portion is formed on the base and locatedbetween the carrying portions. Therefore, when the server is installedat a high place, the user can easily assemble/disassemble the rearstorage devices by passing a hand through the hollow portion from thebottom of the tray after the tray is pulled out of the housing.Moreover, the hard drive tray device of the disclosure includes a cablebracket that is operatively connected to the inner wall of the housing.The cable bracket can slide to be folded relative to the housingtogether with the tray and be attached by transmission cables used toconnect the storage devices to the server. Therefore, when the userpulls out the hard drive tray device, the transmission cables thatattach on the cable bracket do not interfere with the movement of thehard drive tray device. Furthermore, because the transmission cables arestill connected among the storage devices and the server during themoving of the hard drive tray device, the power and signals provided tothe storage devices will not be interrupted.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a hard drive tray deviceis applied in a server. The server includes a housing. The hard drivetray device includes a rail member and a tray. The rail member isdisposed at the inner wall of the housing. The tray is slidably engagedwith the rail member so as to slide between an expanded position and aclosed position relative to the housing. The tray includes a base forcarrying two storage devices. The base has a hollow portion. The storagedevices are respectively located at two sides of the hollow portion.When the tray slides to the expanded position, one of the storagedevices and at least a part of the hollow portion are located outsidethe housing.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the base includes a first carryingportion and a second carrying portion. The first carrying portion andthe second carrying portion are respectively located at two sides of thehollow portion and respectively carry the storage devices. When the trayslides to the closed position, the first carrying portion and the secondcarrying portion are located in the housing. When the tray slides to theexpanded position, the first carrying portion is located outside thehousing, and the second carrying portion is located in the housing.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, when the tray slides to the expandedposition, the hollow portion is entirely located outside the housing,and the second carrying portion is aligned with an edge of the housing.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the hollow portion has a widthbetween the first carrying portion and the second carrying portion, andthe width is greater than the length of any of the storage devices.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the hard drive tray device furtherincludes two racks. The racks are respectively disposed on the firstcarrying portion and the second carrying portion. Each of the storagedevices is removably accommodated in the corresponding rack.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, a removal direction of each of thestorage devices relative to the corresponding rack is parallel to asliding direction of the tray relative to the housing.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the hard drive tray device furtherincludes a handle connected to the first carrying portion.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the storage devices are electricallyconnected to the server by using two transmission cables respectively.The hard drive tray device further includes a cable bracket operativelyconnected to the inner wall of the housing. The cable bracket isexpanded or folded together with the sliding of the tray relative to thehousing. The transmission cables are attached on the cable bracket.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the cable bracket includes a firstbracket portion and a second bracket portion. One end of the firstbracket portion is pivotally connected to the inner wall of the housing.Two ends of the second bracket portion are pivotally connected to thebase and another end of the first bracket portion, respectively.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the tray further includes a sideplate connected to an edge of the base for slidably engaging the railmember.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are by examples, and are intended toprovide further explanation of the disclosure as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure can be more fully understood by reading the followingdetailed description of the embodiment, with reference made to theaccompanying drawings as follows:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hard drive tray device according to anembodiment of the disclosure, in which a tray is located at an expandedposition relative to a housing;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the hard drive tray device in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is another top view of the hard drive tray device in FIG. 1, inwhich the tray is located at a closed position relative to the housing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of thedisclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in thedrawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.

The hard drive tray device of the disclosure can be used to carrystorage devices (e.g., a floppy drive, a hard drive, a CD-ROM drive,etc.) that are generally installed in a server, but the disclosure isnot limited in this regard. Particularly, the hard drive tray device ofthe disclosure can be used to carry hot-swappable storage devices. Aslong as there exists a need of continually providing power and signalsto storage devices when the hard drive tray device has been pulled out,the concepts of the disclosure may be applied to achieve the hard drivetray device.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hard drive tray device 2 according toan embodiment of the disclosure, in which a tray 22 is located at anexpanded position relative to a housing 10. FIG. 2 is a top view of thehard drive tray device 2 in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is another top view of thehard drive tray device 2 in FIG. 1, in which the tray 22 is located at aclosed position relative to the housing 10.

As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3, the hard drive tray device 2 isused in a server 1. The server 1 includes the housing 10. The hard drivetray device 2 includes a rail member 20 and the tray 22. The rail member20 of the hard drive tray device 2 is disposed at the inner wall of thehousing 10 of the server 1. The tray 22 of the hard drive tray device 2includes two side plates 224. The side plates 224 of the tray 22slidably engage the rail member 20. Therefore, the hard drive traydevice 2 can slide relative to the housing 10 of the server 1 betweenthe expanded position as shown in FIG. 2, and the closed position asshown in FIG. 3. The tray 22 of the hard drive tray device 2 furtherincludes a base 220 for carrying a plurality of storage devices 12. Theside plates 224 of the tray 22 are respectively connected to twoopposite edges of the base 220.

As shown in FIG. 1, the base 220 of the tray 22 includes a firstcarrying portion 220 a and a second carrying portion 220 b and has ahollow portion 220 c. The first carrying portion 220 a and the secondcarrying portion 220 b of the base 220 are respectively located at twosides of the hollow portion 220 c, and each carries a specific number ofthe storage devices 12. The number of the storage devices 12 carried bythe first carrying portion 220 a may be the same as or different fromthe number of the storage devices 12 carried by the second carryingportion 220 b. The first carrying portion 220 a of the base 220 is usedto carry front storage devices 12 (i.e., the storage devices 12 that arecloser to the periphery of the housing 10), and the second carryingportion 220 b of the base 220 is used to carry rear storage devices 12(i.e., the storage devices 12 that are deeper in the housing 10).Moreover, due to the fact that the first carrying portion 220 a and thesecond carrying portion 220 b of the base 220 are respectively locatedat two sides of the hollow portion 220 c, the storage devices 12 locatedon the first carrying portion 220 a and the storage devices 12 locatedon the second carrying portion 220 b are also respectively located attwo sides of the hollow portion 220 c.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, the hard drive tray device 2 furtherincludes two racks 24. The racks 24 of the hard drive tray device 2 arerespectively disposed on the first carrying portion 220 a and the secondcarrying portion 220 b of the base 220. Each of the storage devices 12is removably accommodated in the corresponding rack 24. The number ofstorage devices 12 that each of the racks 24 can accommodate can beadjusted as needed.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the tray 22 of the hard drive tray device 2slides to the closed position relative to the housing 10 of the server1, the first carrying portion 220 a and the second carrying portion 220b of the base 220 are located in the housing 10 of the server 1.Therefore, if the front storage devices 12 need to be repaired, a usercan directly pull the front storage devices 12 out of the rack 24 thatis located on the first carrying portion 220 a of the base 220.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the tray 22 of the hard drive tray device 2slides to the expanded position relative to the housing 10 of the server1, the first carrying portion 220 a of the base 220 is located outsidethe housing 10, and the second carrying portion 220 b is located in thehousing 10. Therefore, if the rear storage devices 12 need to berepaired, the user can directly pull the rear storage devices 12 out ofthe rack 24 that is located on the second carrying portion 220 b of thebase 220 in the same manner that the front storage devices 12 are pulledout. Furthermore, when the server 1 is installed at a high place, theuser can easily assemble/disassemble the rear storage devices 12 bypassing a hand through the hollow portion 220 c from the bottom of thebase 220 of the tray 22 after the tray 22 is pulled out of the housing10, and take out the rear storage devices 12 from the bottom of the base220 by passing the rear storage devices 12 through the hollow portion220 c after they have been removed from the rack 24 that is located onthe second carrying portion 220 b of the base 220.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, when the tray 22 of the hard drive traydevice 2 slides relative to the housing 10 of the server 1 to theexpanded position, the hollow portion 220 c of the base 220 is entirelylocated outside the housing 10, and the second carrying portion 220 b ofthe base 220 is aligned with an edge of the housing 10. However, it isnoted that the disclosure is not limited in this regard.

In another embodiment of the disclosure, when the tray 22 of the harddrive tray device 2 slides to the expanded position relative to thehousing 10 of the server 1, a part of the hollow portion 220 c of thebase 220 is located outside the housing 10, and another part of thehollow portion 220 c is located in the housing 10.

In another embodiment of the disclosure, when the tray 22 of the harddrive tray device 2 slides to the expanded position relative to thehousing 10 of the server 1, not only is the hollow portion 220 c of thebase 220 entirely located outside the housing 10 of the server 1, but apart of the second carrying portion 220 b of the base 220 is locatedoutside the housing 10.

As long as the user can pass a hand through the hollow portion 220 c andtake out the rear storage devices 12 again through the hollow portion220 c from the bottom of the tray 22 when the tray 22 of the hard drivetray device 2 slides to the expanded position relative to the housing 10of the server 1, the purpose of easily assembling/disassembling the rearstorage devices 12 of the disclosure can be achieved.

Furthermore, in the embodiment of the disclosure, the hollow portion 220c of the base 220 has a width between the first carrying portion 220 aand the second carrying portion 220 b, and the width of the hollowportion 220 c is greater than the length of any of the storage devices12. Through such a configuration, a sufficient space is provided abovethe hollow portion 220 c of the base 220 for accommodating the rearstorage devices 12 that are pulled out of the rack 24 which is on thesecond carrying portion 220 b, and therefore, the user can directly pullthe rear storage devices 12 out of the rack 24 on the second carryingportion 220 b to the space above the hollow portion 220 c when the rearstorage devices 12 need to be repaired (in the same manner that thefront storage devices 12 are pulled out). Furthermore, when the server 1is installed at a high place, the user can easily assemble/disassemblethe rear storage devices 12 by passing a hand through the hollow portion220 c from the bottom of the base 220 of the tray 22 after the tray 22is pulled out of the housing 10, and insert or take out the rear storagedevices 12 into or from the bottom of the base 220 by passing the rearstorage devices 12 through the hollow portion 220 c. The actual width ofthe hollow portion 220 c of the base 220 between the first carryingportion 220 a and the second carrying portion 220 b can be adjusted asneeded.

As shown in FIG. 1, a removal direction of each of the storage devices12 relative to the corresponding rack 24 is parallel to a slidingdirection of the tray 22 of the hard drive tray device 2 relative to thehousing 10 of the server 1, but the disclosure is not limited in thisregard.

In another embodiment of the disclosure, an angle exists between aremoval direction of each of the storage devices 12 relative to thecorresponding rack 24 and a sliding direction of the tray 22 of the harddrive tray device 2 relative to the housing 10 of the server 1, and theangle can be adjusted according to the height of the place at which theserver 1 is installed relative to the height of the user.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the front storage devices 12 and the rearstorage devices 12 are electrically connected to the server 1 by usingtwo transmission cables 12 a respectively. The hard drive tray device 2further includes a cable bracket 26. The cable bracket 26 of the harddrive tray device 2 includes a first bracket portion 260 and a secondbracket portion 262. One end of the first bracket portion 260 of thecable bracket 26 is pivotally connected to the inner wall of the housing10 of the server 1. Two ends of the second bracket portion 262 of thecable bracket 26 are pivotally connected to the base 220 of the tray 22and another end of the first bracket portion 260, respectively. Thetransmission cables 12 a are attached on the cable bracket 26 of thehard drive tray device 2. Therefore, during the sliding of the tray 22of the hard drive tray device 2 relative to the housing 10 of the server1 between the expanded position and the closed position, the cablebracket 26 is expanded or folded together with the sliding of the tray22 relative to the housing 10.

In other words, when the user pulls out the tray 22 of the hard drivetray device 2 relative to the housing 10 of the server 1, thetransmission cables 12 a that attach on the cable bracket 26 do notinterfere with the movement of the hard drive tray device 2.Furthermore, because the transmission cables 12 a are still connectedamong the storage devices 12 and the server 1 during the moving of thetray 22 of the hard drive tray device 2 relative to the housing 10 ofthe server 1, the power and signals provided to the storage devices 12will not be interrupted.

The hard drive tray device 2 further includes a handle 28. The handle 28of the hard drive tray device 2 is connected to the first carryingportion 220 a of the base 220. Therefore, the user can pull out or pushin the tray 22 relative the housing 10 of the server 1 by grabbing ontothe handle 28.

According to the foregoing recitations of the embodiments of thedisclosure, the disclosure provides a hard drive tray device in which atleast two carrying portions are disposed on a base of a tray, and thecarrying portions can respectively carry two storage devices, therebyallowing the number of storage devices accommodated in a single serverto be increased. The hard drive tray device of the disclosure includes arail member that is disposed at the inner wall of the housing of theserver and is slidably engaged with the tray, so when the rear storagedevices (i.e., the storage devices that are deeper in the housing) needto be repaired or replaced, a user can assemble/disassemble the rearstorage devices in the same way that the front storage devices (i.e.,the storage devices that are closer to the periphery of the housing) areassembled/disassembled, namely, by simply pulling the tray out of thehousing. In addition, a hollow portion is formed on the base and locatedbetween the carrying portions. Therefore, when the server is installedat a high place, the user can easily assemble/disassemble the rearstorage devices by passing a hand through the hollow portion from thebottom of the tray after the tray is pulled out of the housing.Moreover, the hard drive tray device of the disclosure includes a cablebracket that is operatively connected to the inner wall of the housing.The cable bracket can slide to be folded relative to the housingtogether with the tray and be attached by transmission cables used toconnect the storage devices to the server. Therefore, when the userpulls out the hard drive tray device, the transmission cables thatattach on the cable bracket do not interfere with the movement of thehard drive tray device. Furthermore, because the transmission cables arestill connected among the storage devices and the server during themoving of the hard drive tray device, the power and signals provided tothe storage devices will not be interrupted.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the structure of the presentdisclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure.In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present disclosurecover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they fallwithin the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for carrying storage devices appliedin a computing device, the computing device comprising a housing, thehard drive carrying device comprising: a structure configured forsliding, relative to the housing, along a sliding axis between anexpanded position and a closed position substantially in a same plane,the structure comprising a first carrying portion, a second carryingportion, and a receiving space between the first carrying portion andthe second carrying portion, wherein, in the expanded position, thefirst carrying portion and at least a part of the receiving space arelocated outside the housing, wherein the first carrying portion and thesecond carrying portion each comprise a rack with one or more spacesconfigured to removably accommodate one or more storage devices alongthe same plane, and wherein, in the expanded position, the receivingspace extends a receiving length from the first carrying portion to thesecond carrying portion, the receiving length being greater than alength, along the sliding axis, of the spaces in the rack.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein in the closed position, the first carryingportion and the second carrying portion are located in the housing, 3.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, in the expanded position, the secondcarrying portion is located in the housing.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein in the expanded position, the receiving space is disposedentirely outside the housing.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, inthe expanded position, the second carrying portion is aligned with anedge of the housing.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the wherein aremoval direction of each of the storage devices is parallel to thesliding axis.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a cablebracket operatively coupled with an inner wall of the housing, the cablebracket configured to be expanded or folded together with the sliding ofthe structure.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the cable bracketcomprises: a first bracket portion having one end pivotally coupled withthe inner wall of the housing; and a second bracket portion having twoends, one end pivotally coupled with the slideable structure and theother end pivotally coupled with the first bracket portion.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 1, further comprising a rail member for slidablycoupling the structure to the housing.
 10. A computing device,comprising: a housing; and a structure slidably coupled to the housing,the slideable structure comprising a first carrying portion, a secondcarrying portion, and a receiving space between the first carryingportion and the second carrying portion wherein the first carryingportion and the second carrying portion each comprise a rack configuredto removably accomodate one or more storage devices along substantiallya same plane, wherein the structure is configured to slide, relative tothe housing, along a sliding axis between a first position and a secondposition, wherein, in the first position, the first carrying portion andat least a part of the receiving space are positioned outside thehousing, and wherein, in the first position, the receiving space extendsa receiving length from the first carrying portion to the secondcarrying portion, the receiving length being greater than a length of aspace in the rack of the second carrying portion for accommodating thestorage devices.
 11. The computing device of claim 10, wherein, in thesecond position, the first carrying portion and the second carryingportion are positioned in the housing.
 12. The computing device of claim10, wherein, in the expanded position, the second carrying portion ispositioned in the housing.
 13. The computing device of claim 10,wherein, in the expanded position, the receiving space is disposedentirely outside the housing.
 14. The computing device of claim 10,wherein the wherein a removal direction of each of the storage devicesis parallel to the sliding axis.
 15. The computing device of claim 10,further comprising a cable bracket operatively coupled with an innerwall of the housing, the cable bracket configured to be expanded orfolded together with the sliding of the structure.
 16. The computingdevice of claim 15, wherein the cable bracket comprises: a first bracketportion having one end pivotally coupled with the inner wall of thehousing; and a second bracket portion having two ends, one end pivotallycoupled with the structure and the other end pivotally coupled with thefirst bracket portion.
 17. The computing device of claim 10, furthercomprising a rail member for slidably coupling the structure to thehousing.